Become a more confident diver in Cozumel

Once you are comfortable as a diver, able to dive down into the different types of dive sites with ease, you may want to consider becoming certified as a Rescue Diver. You will expand upon the knowledge you have already gained in previous scuba lessons, including the Open Water Diver and Advanced Open Water Diver certification courses.

When you have finished the rescue diver course you will be able to take a giant leap forward by learning how to save lives in a scuba diving emergency. Becoming a Rescue Diver is challenging but extremely rewarding once you have passed the requirements and become certified. You take everything that you already know to a whole new level, becoming an even more confident diver who knows how to react in the event of an emergency, whether you yourself are in danger or someone you are diving with is in need.

Rescue Diver Course structure

To become a PADI Rescue Diver, you must first complete the one day Emergency First Response Course (EFR), an internationally recognised first-aid certificate.

What better way is there to develop your confidence in the water and prepare you for professional level courses than learning that you could take care of someone having a problem? EFR training is good to possess for all circumstances. To realize that you could help someone in the water that has problems makes your own diving second nature. This is a course that we take very seriously, but also make a lot of fun, providing training in realistic scenarios with a touch of humour.

The full Rescue Diver course is scheduled over a minimum of 2 days, developing your dive skills to be able to anticipate and prevent potential problems from occurring with both yourself, your dive buddy as well as other divers. We conduct classes in treating with oxygen, responding to distressed divers above and below the water and focus on preventing problems. Rescue training is a must for the active enthusiastic diver. It is also the beginning of a career in diving and leads into the divemaster and instructor courses. Check out the package deals. EFR and CPR training are prerequisites for completion of a PADI Rescue Diver course. We can complete this training for you, or accept other valid certifications.

What You Will Learn

The Rescue Diver course will teach you many things, including

the typical causes of diver stress and causes of emergency,

how to recognize when and if a diver is in need of assistance and

how to manage an emergency situation,

dive rescue procedures,

how to treat injuries with first aid supplies and rescue equipment,

how to keep yourself safe, and

in-water rescuing skills.

Some of the many other skills you will learn include:

How to tow a diver who has become too fatigued in the water

What to do to help a panicking diver

How you can carry conscious and unconscious divers out of the water.

When and how to apply oxygen to a diver

You will learn not only how to rescue yourself if something were to go wrong while on a dive, but you will also know how to rescue a terrified or unresponsive diver as well. This information is invaluable and can really mean the difference between life and death in an emergency situation at a dive site.

The learning materials you need

Material, all included in the course, is available in multiple languages. If English is not your 1st language but you are still comfortable with it, get everything done in English. If you do fall in love with it, English will always be the one you’ll find on any diving destination.

Prerequisites to start the rescue diver course

As with all other diving courses, you should be in good physical health. The Rescue Diver course is probably the most physically demanding, however, of all the diver courses available. For example, you will need to learn how to get unconscious divers out of the water. This is a very challenging task.

You have to be at least 12 years of age to take this scuba diving course with us in Cozumel. You must also hold a PADI Adventure Diver certification or Advanced Open Water Diver certification before applying for this course. In addition, you must hold a certification in First Aid and CPR before signing up. It is usually available from your dive school, or we can teach it if you don’t already have it.

Medical declaration

If you have not already done so, on arrival you will have to fill in and sign a Medical Statement to say you are fit to dive. You do not regularly take prescription or non-prescription medication and that you do not suffer from any conditions such as asthma, diabetes etc. If you are in any doubt or feel that you may have a condition which requires approval from a doctor first, please ask for a Medical Statement form which will be sent out to you or ask the staff at Divemaster Academy for advice. Here is a link for the PADI Medical release form, please read through it before your course to ensure that you are fit to dive.

Price and conditions

Your course at our dive school includes the following:

Personalised tuition,

PADI course materials, which are yours to keep,

the required dives,

entrance fees,

equipment needed for the course and the

certification.

PADI standards state all rescue students must have their own rescue manual and slate. EFR students must have their own EFR manual.

You can complete the academics before you arrive, in your own pace. In your home with PADI’s Open Water Touch or eLearning application for iPad or Android tablets, and computer. Additional costs of $179 per course apply.